Company Expansion Means 1,000 More Jobs For Chicago

CHICAGO - MAY 16: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks to supporters during a swearing-in ceremony in Chicago's Grant Park May 16, 2011 in Chicago. Emanuel replaces former mayor Richard M. Daley, who had a 22-year run as Chicago's top politician. (Photo by Frank Polich/Getty Images)

Emanuel made the announcement jointly with Dan Henson, President and CEO of GE Capital Americas.

“We support Mayor Emanuel’s commitment to economic growth, and our decision to expand our presence in Chicago reflects our confidence in his ability to deliver on this promise,” Henson said in a statement.

The jobs will consist of skilled commercial, technical and regulatory positions and will make Chicago GE Capital’s second-largest location, with an employee base of 2,000, according to the mayor’s office. Of the 1,000 positions, 500 will be added in the next year and 500 in years after that. GE Capital is currently searching for a new, larger Chicago office location to accommodate the expansion.

The new jobs for Chicago might be payback for favors that Emanuel gave to GE when he was in Washington. The mayor revealed Monday that, in March, he went straight to the top: GE Chief Executive Officer Jeff Imelt.

But he denied that the new jobs were a favor for him.

‘It has to make business sense. You’re not going to do this as a favor,” Emanuel said. “I did have a relationship with Jeff going all the back to being a congressman.”

Emanuel acknowledged he worked with Imelt when he was in Congress and when he was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff.

The jobs to be added here are commercial, technical and regulatory – the heart of commercial lending.

“Those are more of the experienced, professional type positions, where you have to have some type of a technical background or at least experience in that industry,” according to Careerbuilder’s Jason Lovelace, a GE client.

Lovelace said he hopes to place job seekers in those new 1,000 positions at GE

“You are coming off an economic downturn. We are in a recovery. Adding a thousand jobs, I don’t care if it’s in L.A., New York or Chicago. It is a big deal,” he said.

GE Capital offices are located in a Loop high rise, but the new hires likely will work somewhere else, according to Emanuel.